W Magazine and Decoded Fashion Present the Fashion Futures Awards

To winners Tory Burch, Snapchat, and more.

“At W, we always look to spotlight and celebrate those who take risks,” said Editor in Chief Stefano Tonchi Thursday evening at the Decoded Fashion Fashion Futures awards ceremony, which honored innovators in technology. “Discovering new talent and fostering innovation is part of W’s DNA.” And the room was full of such risk-takers, including nominees and award-winners Misha Nonoo, who staged her Spring 2016 entirely on Instagram, designer Rebecca Minkoff, and Julie Wainwright, founder and CEO of TheRealReal. Other guests were eager attendees of the Decoded Fashion summit, which took place in New York City earlier that same day. Entrepreneurs of everything from holograms to 3D printing swapped stories over cocktails at The Bowery Hotel before a seated dinner and awards ceremony.

Those judging the Fashion Futures awards were big-name innovators themselves, including Rodrigo Bazan, President of Alexander Wang; designer Tory Burch; Burak Cakmak, Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons; Lisa Green, Head of Industry, Fashion & Luxury Brands at Google, Steven Kolb, President and Chief Executive Officer of the CFDA; Leandra Medine of Man Repeller; Fred Santarpia, Chief Digital Officer at Condé Nast; Dirk Standen, Editor in Chief of 23 Stories, Kirstine Stewart, Vice President of North American Media Partnerships at Twitter, and many others. They each presented winners with a 3D-printed award (of course).

Covet Fashion took home the first award of the evening for “A Killer Experience,” followed by e-commerce site MM.LaFleur, Combatant Gentleman, Rehab Studio, Tictail, 19th Amendment & Macy’s, and finally, Tonchi presented The Visionaries awards to Snapchat and Tory Burch, who was completely surprised by honor, though no one else in the room seemed to be.

“What fashion and technology have in common is that at their core, they’re both about the future,” said Tonchi before the end of the evening. “They make for an unconventional marriage, but one that continues to evolve.”